To fully understand the relationship between David Nonis and Roberto Luongo, we take you back almost four years ago to a Saturday morning inside the bowels of Vancouver’s Rogers Arena.

It was Oct. 25, 2009 and the Canucks had just finished their morning skate in preparation of yet another dismantling of the Maple Leafs. Having finished chatting with the local scribes, the personable goaltender sat down with a visiting columnist from the Toronto Sun (aka yours truly) to discuss Nonis, the man who had first brought him to Vancouver in a trade with the Florida Panthers.

“I always had a tremendous amount of respect for him,” Luongo said of Nonis.

“It was a weird situation for me in what was happening in Florida. I’m grateful that Dave brought me to Vancouver. But it’s more than that. I think he’s a great person.”

Luongo’s comments about Nonis came to mind on Tuesday when it was suggested that Brian Burke’s apparent reluctance to trade for the veteran goalie proved to be the final straw in his firing as Leafs general manager.

Burke’s replacement just happens to be Nonis, the man who dealt for Luongo once before.

Will he do it again?

Given the mutual admiration he and Luongo have for each other, the signs certainly point that way. In fact, according to sources familiar to the situation, Nonis is expected to forge ahead in attempts to land Luongo from Vancouver, a deal that could very well involve Tyler Bozak, Nazem Kadri and a third element.

To claim that Burke was replaced primarily because of an alleged stubbornness to pull the trigger on a Luongo deal would be ludicrous. A more logical explanation would be that the frustration of having the Leafs going an unimpressive 129-135-42 under Burke, including zero playoff berths, proved to be the final dagger in his tenure.

Moreover, Burke’s penchant of making bombastic public promises that never came to fruition were said to have grated on the suits at MLSE, much like it was on the general public.

There are Burke supporters who claim he was never against bringing Luongo in. The sticking point, they argue, is that he may have felt that the asking price was too high.

Whatever the case, this much is certain: Nonis is far more comfortable than Burke ever was with the long-term back-ended contracts such as Luongo’s pact. Luongo’s deal has a cap hit of $5.3 million US through 2021.

Burke’s downfall with the Leafs can be seen in the raw numbers. During his tenure, his Leafs ranked 30th in goals against, 30th in penalty killing.

In the end, that speaks to unacceptable goaltending. As the old hockey adage goes: Your best penalty killer is your goalie.

Less-than-stellar goaltending helped lead to Burke’s demise during his reign as GM in Vancouver. While his Canucks arguably had the most talented team in hockey in 2002, Dan Cloutier’s whiff of a Nicklas Lidstrom shot from centre ice was the turning point in Vancouver’s first-round loss to the Detroit Red Wings, a series in which the Canucks won the first two games in Detroit.

After replacing Burke as Canucks GM, Nonis addressed the goaltending situation by fleecing the Panthers in a 2006 trade that brought Luongo to Canada’s left coast for a package that sent Todd Bertuzzi, Bryan Allen and Alex Auld to Florida.

Now, more than six years later, Nonis steps in for Burke. Again. Will he pull the trigger on another Luongo deal? Again?

Nonis will not make the deal if Vancouver’s desired return is unreasonable. We do know that. At the same time, he does seem more amicable to pursuing such a trade.

He certainly isn’t about blow the whole thing up and start from scratch, that’s for sure.

“To turn around and gut the franchise now would set it back a long way,” Nonis said on Tuesday.

“And it is not something anybody has any interest in doing.”

Tuesday’s changing of the guard from Burke to Nonis might not ensure Luongo’s arrival in Toronto by any means. But maybe, just maybe, it may have just opened the door a bit more.

THE DAVE NONIS FILE

Born: May 25, 1966, Burnaby, B.C.

* Compiled 130-91-25 record as GM of the Canucks from 2004-08

* Pulled off one of the most one-sided blockbusters in NHL history, acquiring Roberto Luongo, Lukas Krajicek and a sixth-round pick (Sergei Shirokov) for Todd Bertuzzi, Bryan Allen and Alex Auld from the Florida Panthers back on June 23, 2006.

Meet Dave Nonis, the new Maple Leafs boss

To fully understand the relationship between David Nonis and Roberto Luongo, we take you back almost four years ago to a Saturday morning inside the bowels of Vancouver’s Rogers Arena.

It was Oct. 25, 2009 and the Canucks had just finished their morning skate in preparation of yet another dismantling of the Maple Leafs. Having finished chatting with the local scribes, the personable goaltender sat down with a visiting columnist from the Toronto Sun (aka yours truly) to discuss Nonis, the man who had first brought him to Vancouver in a trade with the Florida Panthers.

“I always had a tremendous amount of respect for him,” Luongo said of Nonis.

“It was a weird situation for me in what was happening in Florida. I’m grateful that Dave brought me to Vancouver. But it’s more than that. I think he’s a great person.”